Azu's Akatsuki Tale, Ch 17: Information Gathering
by KorinaK
Summary: New readers, welcome to my story Please read the old chapters, too! To any faithful readers out there, I'm VERY sorry it took so long. Anyhow, I'm finally getting the plot on a moveon! Please readreview. Thank you!


Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters… etc, etc. If I did, then the Akatsuki would be more of a big player in the story!

Just a warning: THIS IS A LONG CHAPTER. You've been forewarned.

Azu's Akatsuki Tale, Chapter 17: Information Gathering

They say the first sense to come back is smell. For me, it was hearing. Voices drifted in and out at the edge of my consciousness, flickering like candles in wind.

"_She's…out…?"_

"_Yeah..."_

"_Leader-sama…damn Uchiha…"_

"…_he?"_

"_Think…is fuckin' moving…could…"_

"_Unsure…likely…rock…"_

"…_goal…do you think?"_

"_I'm not sure, yeah. But hey, we can ask Azu what happened when she wakes up, hm."_

The last sentence came through clearly. I lay there, too tired to open my eyes. It felt like my whole body was weighed down with lead. I felt someone push something cold and bitter against my mouth. Turning away, I let out a soft groan.

"Azu…Hey, Azu?" Some shuffling sounds ensued. "You awake?"

My voice came out a croak. Clearing my throat, I said huskily, "Yeah."

"How you feeling, hm?"

I paused. "I feel like crap."

A new voice. "Hey, I'm proud. You've been out for that long, and one of the first five words you say when you get back is 'crap'. Nice."

"Hang on, lemme take this out, yeah." I felt something slide out of my arm. "You want to try sitting up, hm?"

Another new voice. "She shouldn't -"

Shakily, I pushed myself up and forced my eyes open. Everything was bright, too bright for an instant. Blinking my eyes rapidly, the light in the room seemed like the sun. The place was familiar. It was the Akatsuki headquarters… my brain struggled to drag a memory up of how I'd gotten here. My sight kept blinking in and out, so I closed my eyes again.

"What the heck happened?" My voice was still about twice as low as normal.

Someone –I think it was Hidan- laughed. "She sounds like a guy. What'd they do to you, Azu?"

Another voice –I winced when I recognized it as Sasori's- said impatiently, "You think she remembers what happened to her, the state _she_ was in? And it was just the healing we had to do on her lungs that wrecked her voice... It's temporary. They were a real mess, as I'm sure you recall."

I could feel dark red eyes burning holes in my throbbing head. I heard a lecture coming.

"Aw, Sasori-san is so strict with Azu, yeah."

"Shut up, you id-"

Since Sasori was probably going to kill me anyways, I wasn't afraid of interrupting him. "What happened?"

A steely silence. I could practically feel Deidara and Hidan withdraw in to corners. Sasori's voice was a blizzard of icy anger. "Leave us, Deidara, Hidan." I felt them leave. "What happened was you got yourself beat up. Badly. Causing a _whole lot_ of a mess and way too much attention. You idiot, you drained your chakra to almost nothing…you have cuts all over you from whatever group mobbed you."

_What? I hadn't felt tired at all…how could that have happened? And hadn't a building been falling on me… or was that genjutsu, too?_

_Crap. Looks like I made yet another mistake. Azu's position on Sasori's "I'm-would-kill-them-but-my-orders-say-otherwise list: Number one, once again. _

"…and you didn't even consider asking Itachi to walk you back to that girl's house, did you? Your stubborn pride will be the end of you. What do I _do_ with you? Why do I put _up_ with you? If you ask me, you're not worth anything." He sighed theatrically. Amusingly enough, Sasori can be very dramatic.

That was unnecessarily harsh. Forcing my eyes open again in to the horribly bright light, I gave Sasori –a pale skinned, red haired blur- a stare. "Sasori-san needn't be reminded that I fought off a genjutsu no doubt cast by a highly skilled person? I think I deserve a bit more credit than that."

"You could have expelled it, had you been _thinking_," hissed Sasori. "I taught you how, remember? Guess it didn't stick in that arrogant head of yours… I should try teaching an academy student next time. I might –scratch that, I _will_- have more luck with them than with _you_."

I had nothing to say. Sasori had nicely humiliated me, again. I swallowed, tasted bitter fluid in my mouth, coating my tongue. Putting as my meekness and humbleness in my sentence as possible, I said "I'm sorry. I made a stupid mistake, _again._" _There, that should satisfy your pride._

He sighed. I knew I'd been forgiven, at least for now. "Three days of bed rest, not a second more. And you, Azumi, have a lot of learning to do. Now that you're, well, _somewhat_ officially a member"- the sarcasm in his voice was reaching all time highs- "and I _guess_ Leader-sama must have temporarily lost his mind when he made you a member, but anyways… You have a lot of learning to do." Putting his hand on my throat, he said, "Let me heal your voice. Then we'll get started."

It was going to be a pretty tough welcome back. At least in Sasori's case.

Hours later, near sunset

He'd finally left. I thought we'd keep on at it till he killed me or something. Establishing mental connection with the various members of Akatsuki was much, _much_ harder than I thought it would be.

Basically you had to, um, sort of _merge_ your chakras together, therefore allowing you to enter the other person's subconscious, at least somewhat. Oh, god, that makes me sound hippy, doesn't it? (Like, man, go with the flow! Thank god I'm not blonde.) Anyhow, easy to do when the person in question –Sasori- is in the room with you, but not so easy with people miles or even countries apart at times.

It's easier if you know the person better. I could pretty much figure it out with Tobi, for example, straight from the start, having spent a lot of time with him as a trainee. Also, Sasori and Deidara were easy to create contact with.

However, no matter how much I tried, I couldn't get a connection with Kakuzu, Zetsu, Aoi, or (for some reason) Hidan.

After that, Kakuzu, having threatened me with various painful-and-slow variety deaths, has left me with the Akatsuki's official account books. I'm supposed to figure out everyone's total costs for this month, counting what they earned as balance, and record _neatly and carefully_ what they spent on and how they earned the money.

It's harder than it sounds. I can't read half of the Akatsuki's handwriting. Itachi's is indecipherable (but elegant) cursive, Tobi's is just plain impossible, I can't tell Deidara's "e"s from his "r"s, Zetsu scrawls, Kisame has tiny writing, Hidan's script looks like a five-year old's (and with bad grammer and spelling to boot, I swear)… thank god for Kakuzu, Sasori, and Aoi. They keep me sane. Somewhat.

Oh, yeah: They all spend. A lot. Of money. Then there are the horribly large stacks of numbers, half of which you must then add taxes to, and then there's more costs and gain and other things…And my stupid eyes are still throbbing, even though Sasori un-dilated them a while ago now.

How does Kakuzu do it? I admire the man. He must be a genius or something.

I lay back in the bed I was sitting in. I felt really, _really _thirsty, but the cup of tea next to my bed smelled funny. I didn't think it would be appetizing. Suddenly, I felt a throb of something in my head.

It felt like someone in Akatsuki was calling me.

Wearily, I mindlessly followed the mental signal out of the room, turning corners, walking down long corridors, weaving in and out of chambers, cursing Sasori all the way. He was probably disturbing me for the fun of it. Damn him.

And just as suddenly as the signal had started, it stopped. I found myself utterly alone in a strange room with no idea where I was. I bit my lip gently, sending what little chakra I had shooting through the walls, trying to find someone. Nope, no one around.After turning a few more corners, I was officially lost.

A barely there, muffled voice unexpectedly reached my ears. I followed it curiously. It was coming from…

A wall.

_Oookay… Azu, either you are going crazy or there is some kind of hidden door here._

I ran my fingers over it. Nope, completely smooth. Oddly, I could not feel any kind of chakra emanating from it either. Stuck on what to do, I put my head against the wall and commanded my ears to sharpen up.

It was Itachi's voice, as well as Aoi's, suddenly as clear as day. Now I realized I could barely feel his chakra, he was keeping it masked so low. Aoi's, too, was suppressed.

_We're in the Akatsuki headquarters… why are they hiding their chakra?_

"…Uchiha Sasuke, Itachi-kun's little brother." This was Aoi speaking, her calm voice filling my ears. "He's getting to be a problem for Akatsuki, isn't he?"

"Yes. Deidara and Tobi have been sent to eliminate him."

A small laugh. "Does Itachi-kun honestly think Tobi-kun and Deidara-san can take Sasuke?"

A pause, and then, "No. But they might slow him down."

"Sasuke is near the Rock Country, isn't he? With the Hebi."

I remembered: Just before I'd woken up, Sasori, Deidara and Hidan had been talking about this "Uchiha Sasuke"… and who or what was "Hebi"?

"And he also has the other sword, Aoi-san."

"Ah, this brings to kawaii little Azu. We cannot have Azu seeking Sasuke out... And he cannot come in to contact with the Kyuubi, or any other Bijuu."

"Azu will inevitably find him, if she has the sword."

"So, Itachi-kun, it was stolen, then destroyed."

"But-"

"Itachi-kun. It was stolen while she was knocked out, does Itachi understand?" Though she sounded no more menacing than usual, her words suddenly had a severe chill to them… I shrank back from the wall, resisted my sudden crazy urge to run, and kept listening. "Itachi-kun must tell Azu this."

"…Yes, Aoi-san."

Suddenly, I saw a hand coming through the stone wall. I look around in panic: The chamber was brightly lit, nowhere to hide without activating chakra. Once Itachi reactivated his chakra, he would be able to sense me in an instant, so I couldn't do a Hiding-in-Ground jutsu.

There was no choice but to take off running, my legs pumping as fast as possible and hitting the ground noiselessly, a shot of adrenaline propelling me faster. I had no idea how far –or how close- Itachi or Aoi might be.

My ears brought to me the sound of footsteps a moment too late. I screeched to a sudden halt. A masked face glared at me suspiciously. "Kakuzu-san…" I feared that I hadn't disguised my panting breath fast enough. Had he seen my panic-stricken running?

"Little brat, you lost? You're supposed to be in your room." Kakuzu's voice was somewhat surprised.

"Oh, I was…" Shoot, I had to think of an excuse. "…looking for the restroom. And I, um, got lost, because I don't usually hang around that area…" I was really gambling here. If the room I had been in turned out to be somewhere I was supposed to be familiar with, Kakuzu would know in an instant I was lying.

Apparently I'd won, at least this time. "Damn kids… here, follow me." He shepherded me along for minutes, quickly shoving me in to the room. "And don't get lost again." He shuffled backwards out of the room.

My instinct told me something was up. I ran to the door, laid my head against it. There was a ripping sound, and then the thud of a hand against the door. Suddenly, I was thrown off the door. My hand throbbing slightly with pain, I cautiously sent my chakra in to the metal in the door. It was met by a strong opposing force.

A chakra seal. I'd been sealed in, by Kakuzu.

They wouldn't… Running over, I took a look at the tea in the clear glass. At first it seemed normal. Then I saw the powder at the bottom. Looking at the wet powder on my finger, I realized what it was: Sleeping concentrate.

_Sasori had laid his hand on my throat, saying he was going to heal it. And I had been so thirsty… and the tea was drugged…_

What was going on?

Over the next day, I didn't try to get out of the room again. While one side of me worked on numbers and drawing perfect tables in the foot thick account book, the other side of me repeatedly analyzed the apparently secret conversation I'd heard between Aoi and Itachi.

Lying in bed with the Akatsuki account book lying in my lap, I really couldn't make any sense of it. Except for these two things:

One. Akatsuki had an apparently urgent order to keep me from meeting "Uchiha Sasuke."

Two. He had a sword that was somehow linked with the one I had found.

The click of the door distracted me that instant. I quickly turned my head back to my pen and ruler, drawing another table. A familiar, sarcastic voice met my ears… "And how's the lovely invalid doing?"

"Ah, hello, Kisame-san. Kakuzu-san seems to wish to kill me with all this work… I don't suppose you could try and write a little _larger_ next time?" Putting down the pen, I gave him a mock glare. This was perfect. Kisame was a friendly enough person, so what I was about to do would probably work well on him…

"I could _try,_ I guess. No guarantees." He smiled at me.

_Here we go. Now I'll see how good I am at pretending._ "Do you have any idea where that sword went?"

His answer was absolutely smooth: "What sword you talking about?"

I tried to make my face as clueless looking as possible. "You know, the one that I picked up the other night in Konoha? Do you know where it is?"

"It was lost when you got mobbed…" I wouldn't have noticed normally, but he didn't look me completely in the eye when he said it. Knowing the usually straightforward Kisame… he was lying.

"Oh… oh well, that was a really cool sword." Grimacing, I lied on, "Sasori-san's really gonna kill me now."

With a groan of metal springs, Kisame sat down on the other end of my bed. "Probably, yeah."

"Hey, don't sound so cheerful!" _Thank god he wasn't leaving. I wasn't done questioning him yet…_ "You know the report I had to write up for Itachi-san?"

"Uh-huh…?"

I took a breath, looked him straight in the eye, and remembered the conversation: _He cannot come in to contact any Bijuu… _"He said I'm a member of Akatsuki now, so I think I can ask this. What's a Bijuu, and what does Akatsuki want with it?"

Maybe I went too far, I don't know. Kisame gave me a strange look all of a sudden. "You don't need to know, not yet."

"Come _on,_ aren't I a member?" I asked, putting a childish air in my voice. "You guys don't trust me. Geez." _I needed him to keep talking._

"You are _so_ immature, Azu-chan."

I gave him puppy-dog eyes. "Pleeeeeaaaase…?" Pweeeeez, Kisame big-brother-san?"

"Girls, they'll be the end of me. Fine, fine. All you need to know is… Akatsuki is gathering people with monsters sealed in them called Bijuu."

"Come on, keep talking."

"Fine. We need the Bijuu because-"

The door clicked open again. It was Itachi. I held my breath… was he going to accuse me of listening in?

"Kisame, there you are. Leader-sama requests our presence…" He glided out the door, leaving Kisame to follow him. I could have kicked him, and I might have if I hadn't still felt so tired. Stupid healing process… _and damn, I was so close to finding out Akatsuki's real motives…!_

Apparently, as far as they _seemed_ to trust me, Akatsuki didn't really want to tell me anything. I'm sure Itachi's interruption in our conversation wasn't just good timing… he hadn't wanted Kisame to tell me.

Looks like if I wanted to figure out anything, I'd have to do it myself. But I was at least a little close to knowing what Akatsuki wanted, and once I knew that, I might finally know one thing that'd been bothering me for a long time now…

What did Akatsuki want with _me_?_  
_


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